The field of art to which this invention pertains is the conversion of organic feedstock which contains thermally unstable compounds and a halogen component to produce hydrocarbonaceous compounds having a reduced concentration of halogen moieties.
There has always been a demand for the conversion or disposal of waste or by-product streams which originate in the petroleum, chemical and petrochemical industries. More particularly, these by-products originate from the chlorination of olefins in the production of epichlorohydrin, propylene oxide and vinyl chloride monomers, for example. It is common in such streams for the predominate species to be halogenated alkanes, but, in addition, in some cases, there are present highly reactive species such as olefins and other thermally unstable compounds that can often polymerize or decompose during processing thereby leading to the plugging of the reactor and its associated piping. This polymerization or decomposition process is the primary mechanism leading to the formation of carbonaceous deposits and the resulting deactivation of the conversion catalyst. Previous techniques utilized to dispose of waste streams containing halogen components, olefins and other heteroatomic compounds have frequently become environmentally unpopular or illegal and, in general, have always been expensive. With the increased environmental emphasis for the treatment and recycle of chlorinated organic compounds, there is an increased need for the conversion of these products when they become unwanted. Therefore, those skilled in the art have sought to find feasible techniques to convert such feedstocks to provide hydrocarbonaceous product streams having a reduced concentration of halogen which may be safely and usefully employed or recycled. Previous techniques which have been employed include incineration and dumping which, in addition to potential pollution considerations, fail to recover valuable hydrocarbonaceous materials and the resulting halogen compounds.